Second Chances
by That Girl Laura
Summary: This is a story about a girl getting left behind in the Rapture. It is about her realizing her need to have God in her heart. If anyone that reads this wants to become saved, please message me and I will tell you more about it.


Second Chances

If I could go back in time, I would. I could have fixed the mistake I made, and I wouldn't have to be here right now. If I had just listened to my Mom! Who knew everything she said was true? She tried to tell me the truth, but every time she spoke about it, I just ignored her. If I had known the truth...if I had believed what I heard...things would be different. The last time I spoke with my mom, I had a chance. But I was too late. Because of my selfish decision, I am alone on this earth. I look around me and all I see is destruction. I see the tears of those who made the same mistake as me. And I see death from those who were so devastated; they no longer felt the need to live. Now all _I_ can do is try to survive for the next seven years of my life.

It was a regular Sunday afternoon before the most devastating moment in my life happened, and I was relieved to get back from church so I could go on my computer. But that was the last thing my mom had in mind. Every Sunday after church, she would try to tell me about the Bible and God and how I needed him in my life. Sometimes I pretended to be interested. I pretended to really understand what she was talking about, but it got to the point when I got tired of hearing it. I ignored her...but little did I know at that moment, how much I needed God in my heart.

"Hi, Julie. Can we talk for a bit?" No we cannot, because I know what you want to talk about. Salvation. I need to be saved, I need to ask Jesus in my heart. Yeah I know, I've heard it all before, and I do not need to hear it again. I know what I need and it is not the Bible.

"Um...what do you want to talk about?" I asked incoherently. Maybe I can change the subject if she starts talking about God...or Jesus...or whoever he is.

"Do you remember what the Pastor was preaching about today?"

"Well, no. Not really." The whole service I was listening to my iPod without my parents' knowledge. The services are so boring! I do not want to just sit there and listen to some guy preach.

"You were not listening, were you?" She asked sounding a little hurt, even though she was trying to hide it. I felt guilty for making her sad, but the feeling of guilt quickly melted away.

"Mom, you know how I feel about all of that church stuff. It all seems like a cliché to me. How can one person know the fate of mankind? How can this God just make a whole world with his two hands in six days? And if the so called 'perfect God' is a 'loving God' " I said while making quotations with my fingers, "how could he make the world, and have it end up like this?"

"Honey, all these answers are in the Bible. God is an all knowing God. He created you, so he knows your future. The world became sinful because men and women are sinners. And whether we like it or not, you and I are sinners too. I used to sin and not care at all, but that was before I became a Christian and asked Jesus into my heart. Now I feel horrible when I do commit a sin because a feel a burden in my heart, but when I ask God to forgive me, He lifts the burden and I know that he does forgive me, because he _is_ a loving God."

Here we go. I did not want to get into this, all of this Bible nonsense. Next she is going to want to read some Bible verses to me, I am going to have to pretend that I care, then she will ask if I want to pray, and I will say no. Doesn't she get it? I do not want to get into that sort of thing! I do not want to believe in something that will just let me down. This sort of thing might work for Mom and the rest of the family, but it will not work for me. None of it really made sense to me. I mean, why would a so called 'Loving God' put people through the torture that he did? If you are an all loving person, you would not condemn people to Hell, if there is one, would you? And there is no way that anyone is perfect...it's just not possible! I just think this Bible stuff is all just a crutch for some people to use when they are unhappy or hurt. These people only want to look to the Bible when something goes wrong. When they fix their problem, they claim that they are a changed person, but then they go back to their old foolish ways of life as if nothing ever happened and they will forget about the Bible completely. I do not want to be that way. If I half to solve my problems all on my own, I will. I won't look to the Bible as a crutch.

"Do you understand what I am saying?" Mom asked me. "You need to ask Jesus into your heart or a time will come when you will be too late, and you will regret not asking Him."

"Why would I be too late, Mom? Does God have a deadline for people to get saved? Does he have a maximum amount of people that can get into Heaven? That is so not fair to people who might want to believe." I said.

"Julie, it is not that God does not want some people to go to Heaven. He wants everyone to get to Heaven. But sometime in the future, what we call the Rapture will happen. God will come and take all of the saved people and bring them to Heaven."

"So what will happen to the people who are not saved?" I asked. "Will they _never_ get a shot at heaven? Are they stuck on the earth forever?"

"The people who are left behind will not be stuck on earth forever. They will get a second chance in the seven year Tribulation period. The Anti Christ will take over claiming that he wants peace. He will start small, but he will eventually rule the world. He will really cause destruction instead of peace, and if he knows that you are a Christian in the Tribulation, he will kill you. If you do not get saved in the seven year Tribulation, you will not get to go to Heaven." Mom said.

I remember hearing about the Tribulation period in church one time. It is known to be the hardest time known to man. But once again that shows what kind of a person God is. He is basically saying "I gave you a shot at Heaven, but you didn't get saved, so this is what I will do to you." That is so cruel.

"Yeah, I know. I think I have heard about that. But I think people will know if this guy is the Anti Christ." I said.

"Some people will be so devastated they will look to anybody for help. The Anti Christ will fool these people and make them believe in him. The Rapture can happen anytime. It could be ten years from now, or it could be today. That is why I am so concerned about you." Mom said seriously.

"Well, you don't have to be concerned. If I feel like I need to get saved some day, I will." I said. She does not need to be worried about something that will not happen. I have no idea where I will go when I die, but I am sure it will not be Hell. I am a good person. God would not send me to Hell...would He?

"Mom...I am done talking about this for now." I said

"Honey, I just don't want you to regret your decision." She said.

"I won't be, Mom...I just...don't want this right know."

"Okay, but I would like you to think about what we talked about. It is very important. And if you need anything, or realize the need to be saved, you will come to me right?" I just nodded my head, and she slightly smiled, and walked quietly out my room.

I need to get out of here for a while. Just go for a drive or something. I am tired of my mom looking at me as if I need help. I walked quickly out of my room and downstairs. I ignored the stares from my Mom, Dad, and little brother Jeremy, and went to the garage to get my car and go for a ride.

"I am going out for a bit. I will be back later." I called back into the house. And I jumped in my car and left.

I could not stop thinking about what my mom had told me. About how, if I did not get saved before the Rapture, I would go through seven years of heartache and pain. Why is this bothering me now? I did not care a thing about it ten minutes ago when I left my house. I couldn't get this stuff out of my head. I told myself that none of that Christian stuff was real, and now I cannot help myself, but wonder what a saved person's life is like. Can Christian people have any fun? Or do they go by a bunch of rules that say what you can and cannot do. Things like, you can't go to parties, and you have to go to church every Sunday or God does not love you.

All of this stuff was eating at my mind until I looked up and saw to cars smashed together and other cars that were surrounding them that probably dodged the wreck. I slammed my foot on the brakes fearing that I would hit one of the cars, and my heart started beating rapidly out of the shock. One of the cars was a minivan and the other was a Jeep. Both cars had unrepairable damage and smoke coming out of it. Because off the spot I had my car in, I could not back out very easily, so I got out of my car and went to the wreck looking for something I could do to help. There were a couple people walking around and looking in the grass beside the minivan for something. I went up to one of them asked what she was looking for.

"There is no body in the minivan. The windshield is shattered so we think the driver flew in the grass because of the force of the wreck. It's strange though...the only things that are in the van are clothes and a car seat." She said confused. I was confused too, so instead of helping those people look for a body I went to the van so I could see what she was talking about. I carefully stepped over pieces of metal from the car and tried to open the door. The door was crushed into the car and I could not get it open, so I looked in a window that was broken.

The lady wasn't kidding! There were no bodies in the car. Just a ladies clothes and a car seat with baby clothes. I tried to reach in to grab the clothes, but I only cut my arm slightly on the broken glass. I grabbed my arm, but I still looked in the van. Sure enough, there was an empty car seat in the back seat.

This is all so unreal. Even if the lady did fly out the window, how would her clothes is left behind? The smell of gas was making me sick, so I got back into my car and carefully backed out avoiding pieces of metal from the cars, and drove back home. I wanted to get home so I could tell my mom what I saw. It took me a long time to drive back home because I had to go extra slow. There were so many car wrecks on the road! As I drove with my window down, I could hear the cries of a mother or father screaming about how their child was not in the car. I had to keep my eyes forward for fear of running into another car that was stopped on the road. And finally after an hour drive I got home. But as I was walking to my house, I saw an elderly woman on the sidewalk, crying over an empty stroller. I felt the need to help her so I turned around and walked to her.

"Ma'am, is there something wrong?" I asked concerned.

"My granddaughter! She is gone! She-she was right here before and when I looked d-down at her and sh-she was gone!" She said with tears streaming down her face.

"Gone...how?" I asked.

"I d-don't know! All that is left is her c-clothes! She was kidnapped maybe...I need to get help!" After she yelled that she started to take out her phone and dialed 911.

How can a little baby just disappear? And how does someone disappear out of their car and only leave her clothing? It's like something took these people! What if this thing got to my family? What if it took my Mom and Dad and my little brother! With that thought I ran back to my house and burst through the door. The first thing I heard was the TV. I ran into the living room hoping to find my family watching a movie, but no one was in there.

"Mom? Dad?" I called out. "Jeremy?" I ran into the kitchen hoping to find my mom but I only found a note from her to me. It read:

Julie,

I'm going to the store. Look after Jeremy and remember what we talked about.

~Mom

I looked on the kitchen table and found grocery bags on it. I looked around me and saw a cabinet opened and a can of food on the table as if someone was going to put the can away.

I did not want to do what I was about to do. I wanted to look on the floor, but I was afraid of what I might see. I had to force my eyes to look down even though I knew what I would see. I saw my Mom's clothes and her wedding ring in a heap on the floor. Then realization hit me. Like the force of wind going a hundred miles an hour. The Rapture happened. I have been left behind.

I could not keep myself up. I fell to the floor and picked up my Mom's ring and started to sob. She was right! Everything thing she told me was true. The Rapture happened and I was too late. I did not listen to my Mom, and now I am here on earth while she, Dad, and Jeremy are in Heaven. The pain of cutting my arm on the glass is nothing compared to the pain I am feeling right now. I thought about all the times my Mom tried to tell me I needed Christ. I was so mean to her! I was so selfish. All those times I told my Mom I did not want Christ, I hurt her. I knew I was hurting her, but I did not care then. Now I care more than anything.

I do not know how long I was on the kitchen floor sobbing my eyes out, but I finally felt strong enough to stand. With tears still pouring out of my eyes, I walked to the living room and looked on the couch. I found Jeremy's T-shirt and jeans on the couch, and the remote right next to the sleeve of his shirt where he usually sits to watch some TV. I went to my Dad's office and saw his clothes, glasses on the office chair and his wedding ring on the desk. I walked to my Mom's room, lay on her bed, and cried more. I can't believe how stupid I was! My Mom tried to tell me, but I was too selfish to listen to the truth. I thought my way was best, and now look where I am. I am left behind. Like so many other foolish people in the world.

I knew what I needed to do. I needed to ask Jesus into my heart. How can Jesus accept me now! I rejected him so many times! How can he love me now? I thought about what my mom told me once. She said to get saved, I needed to ask Jesus to forgive me and ask him into my heart. Will He hear me? I had to try, so I knelt on my knees and started to pray, something I had never done in my life.

"Dear, God...I don't know if You can hear me right know. But, I have to trust that you can. I know I am a sinner. I know I have done a lot of bad things in my life. I want You to come into my heart...and save me. I should have done this a long time ago, but I did not know I needed it then...and I am sorry I waited until now to do this. Forgive me...please. Tell me what I need to do. In Jesus name I pray, Amen."

I felt a sudden wave of relief. It was like God heard what I said! I know I am saved, and I know that God heard me. I am not sure what the Tribulation will be like, but I know I need to lead others to Christ, and I can only do that with his help. I picked up my Mom's Bible and held it close to me.

"Show me what I need to do, Lord. I can only do this with your help."


End file.
